The final of the Greatest German series was fought between 10 figures, including physicist Albert Einstein and the inventor of the printing press, Johannes Gutenberg.

Economic miracle

Composer Johann Sebastian Bach and writer Johannes Wolfgang von Goethe were also in the running.

Famous names from Germany and abroad were shown making the case for their favourite.

Other Greatest German finalists

Otto von Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor who united Germany

Willy Brandt, former West German chancellor 1969-1974

Hans and Sophie Scholl, siblings beheaded by the Nazis in 1943

Bill Gates championed Gutenberg, while the leader of Germany's Communist Party after the fall of the Berlin Wall argued in favour of Karl Marx, to applause from a small but raucous section of the studio audience.

Winner Konrad Adenauer served from 1949 to 1963 and helped re-establish German democracy after the Nazi era.

He also oversaw the first years of the German economic miracle - a cause for some nostalgia today as the country's economy lags in the doldrums.

None of the great figures from sport or entertainment made it through to the end.